SSCP May 7th, no result yet (3 weeks) - is this normal?

FarewellThunderchild

HI

I sat SSCP in London on May 7th, and I've not received any results yet, is this normal, I'm sure I was told 2-3 weeks? Just wondering whether its worth me emailing or phoning to chase up?

Also should I be expecting email or written notification please?

Thanks!

JDMurray

It's actually 4-6 weeks to get your exam result, but 2-3 weeks is typical. You an email registrar@isc2.org to ask if your results are impending.

FarewellThunderchild

Woohoo! Got my results today and I passed, so just the endorsement process to go through now. Bit surprised to see there was no score or breakdown given of the exam in my pass notification since I understand you get this information if you fail - seems odd not to receive it on passing. I'd just be interested to see whehter I scraped through or fluked it since there were some questions on the exam I was unsure of and I was wondering of these were scored questions or some of the test/unscored questions that they include.

Anyway, since I passed, I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have over the exam or study materials, provided they don't relate to specific question content or anything else prohibited under the agreement.

For the record I work as a linux administrator by day (about 5 years experience) and my revision for the exam took about 3 months of 1-2 hours/evening, and 4-6 hours on weekends of self-study, no training courses etc.

JDMurray

FarewellThunderchild wrote: »

Woohoo! Got my results today and I passed

Congratulations!

FarewellThunderchild wrote: »

Bit surprised to see there was no score or breakdown given of the exam in my pass notification since I understand you get this information if you fail - seems odd not to receive it on passing.

This is done because all candidates who pass are considered equal in the eyes of the (ISC)2. There are no "barely passed" SSCPs, or "900 club" SSCPs, etc.

FarewellThunderchild wrote: »

Anyway, since I passed, I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have over the exam or study materials, provided they don't relate to specific question content or anything else prohibited under the agreement.

Feel free to post a detailed accounting of your study habits and exam experience. This certainly helps out future (ISC)2 exam candidates.

FarewellThunderchild

JDMurray wrote: »

Congratulations!

Feel free to post a detailed accounting of your study habits and exam experience. This certainly helps out future (ISC)2 exam candidates.

Thanks for the reply, I've read your replies in several threads and they're always very useful and informational.

I will try and give some information on my study methodology and my impression of the exam without going into any specifics.

With regard to preparation for the exam, the first thing I did (which took a month) was to create my own set of notes (more like a small book - about 70 pages worth) by reading all the books and other sources of information I could get my hands on - I used the official ISC SSCP CBK guide, and some of the GIAC special papers, but also "primary" sources like a lot of the NIST 800 series docs, and "tertiary" sources like freely available unviersity lecture slide sets/course notes on IT security modules, and even other people's SSCP/CISSP notes (eg Banahatti).

I did find that really no one source or book was enough to get a proper understanding of all the domains - in my opinion to know each domain thoroughly you would really have had to have been working in that domain - which is exactly as it should be really - or do a lot of reading for the domains in which you lack professional experience. With the SSCP more than any other certification I'd done, the domains felt cohesive. What I mean by that is some certs feel like either a) a set of facts to be learned where other areas deserving attention are ignored or b) learning just some facts by rote will get you through the exam without really understanding the mechanisms and principles driving it. I felt that for the SSCP during my study I was learning generally applicable methodologies, techniques and principles that would genuinely inform my working practice, and that to be able to answer certain practice questions you needed not just to memorise some facts but to have understood the principles being outlined and being able to apply them.

My only reservations with the process were a) that due to my geographical location and differing paths of my coworkers I was not able to take part in any group study sessions of any sort, which I find helpful (obviously this is not something ISC can address!) and b) that the result processing could be quicker - I understand it is paper-based and needs to be transported and scored, reviewed and audited etc, but it still feels like a long time.

Since I am the first person in my current organisation currently to take SSCP/CISSP certifications, my next challenge is to tackle the 10-page applicant endorsement assistance form

If anyone else has any legitimate questions that I can fairly answer regarding studying etc, then I'm happy to help out.

incry6t

just passed as well. anyone know if certified SSCP can endorse CISSP?

JDMurray

Yes, any (ISC)2 member in good standing can endorse any candidate for any (ISC)2 certification.

https://www.isc2.org/endorsement.aspx

incry6t

thank you